This invention relates in general to an energy generating system, and in particular relates to a system for extracting usable energy from sea currents or the like.
Traditional sources of energy have largely been limited to hydrocarbon fuels and, to a lesser extent, hydroelectric power generation. The use of nuclear energy for commercial electric power generation has been used in recent years, but nuclear power is becoming increasingly controversial because of questioned reactor safety and because of controversy surrounding safe storage of the spent nuclear fuel removed from the reactors. Perhaps for the first time, people are considering the feasibility of developing alternative energy sources for practical large-scale application.
The ocean has been recognized as a potential source of energy, and many schemes have been proposed to harness that energy. For example, it has been proposed to utilize the energy present in waves, but no practical technique has been developed for dependable commercial extraction of wave energy. Moreover, ocean waves are generally subject to considerable variation in factors such as magnitude, depending on climatic conditions and other variables not under human control.
It has also been proposed to harness tidal power. Such proposals usually call for construcing a dam near the mouth of a river, or the inlet into a bay or similar enclosed region, through which a substantial tidal current ebbs and flows during the regular changes in tide. The energy contained in the tidal flow, or in the mass of water transferred by tidal action, would then be converted to electrical energy by suitable hydroelectric generation techniques. Schemes for generating tidal power necessarily are limited to producing power, or at least yielding energy for conversion into usable power, in periodic increments determined by the tide. Moreover, the possible locations for tidal-power generation are severely limited by the aforementioned geographic considerations, and also by the fact that the relatively large tides necessary for effective power generation are found only at substantial latitudes.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved system for extracting energy from the ocean.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system using sea currents as a source of energy.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system for extracting useful energy from sea currents.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following discussion.